It was 4:30 in the morning on Valentines Day that we awoke to board a ferry to Ko Tao. Although our sleepy eyes may not have shown it, we were more than excited to slip into the sea at this diving paradise.
On board the Songserm Express, getting some fresh air on the deck. Exponentially better than sitting in the fume filled lower seating.
Not five hours later, we were on a dive boat with Big Blue, our dive operator for the next five days. Nice boats, great people! Here you see the line up of boats for one our dives. Ko Tao dive sites, like this one, can often become highly populated with divers, as the isle certifies the most divers of any place in the world.
During our dives we saw a plethora of underwater creatures, including but no limited to:
Moray eels, sea snakes, crocodile fish, nudibranches (a kind of snail without a shell), a giant sleeping turtle, razor fish, puffer fish, barracuda, clown fish (among many anenomes), blue spotted stingrays, and many more of the standard tropical fish like butterfly fish, angel fish, grouper, seargent majors, and parrot fish. Unfortunately, we have no pictures to share of these wonderous sights, since our cameras were not suitable to diving.
But we do have surface pics! Here Nick takes a break after a dive on board the ship, Ao Muong, Mango Bay!
Although we dove with a multitude of dive masters during our stay, many dives were with this Croatian couple, Susanna and Denis. They both came to Ko Tao to get certified as Dive masters on the cheap, and were planning on leaving shortly after we left the isle. Coincidentally, our last dive here was also Susanna's!
Relaxing on the beach after our morning dive regimen. Ahh, the water feels great.
One of the beautiful sunsets from Sairee beach.
Gearing up for the "adventure night dive" at White rock. Although we dove this site no less than four times during our stay with Big Blue, seeing it at night was a different experience entirely.
The Tao life: Dive the day and drink the night away. Not really our style but we managed to pub crawl it up one night, even fit in the ladyboy show!
Every night Sairee beach lit up with lively bars and agile fire dancers; there was never a dull moment to be had. Here you see one of the locals showing off his moves.
Kaitlin enjoying an excellent BBQ dinner....mmm, barracuda!
Nick reveling in his non-fish dish.
6 days and 13 dives after our arrival, we viewed our last serene sunset from Sairee beach. For its social diving scene, relaxing beaches, and beautiful sunsets, Koh Tao will always have a special place in our hearts.
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